The Buddha shaped ‘baby pears’ are hugely popular in China and Vietnam (Picture: People’s Daily Online)

No, we’re not sure we could eat them either.

Nevertheless, these Buddha-shaped ‘baby pears’ are hot stuff right not across Asia.

The baby pears, which are grown inside the mould of a laughing Buddha, are meant to bring good fortune.

They were first produced by Chinese farmer Gao Xianzhang in 2009, reports People’s Daily Online. He spent six years perfecting his cuddly pears. They’ve become popular in China over the last few years, with people often giving them as a gift to celebrate the Lunar New Year.

(Picture: People’s Daily Online)

They’ve now taken off in a big way in Vietnam after they started being sold in local markets in December last year.

‘I started to sell baby pears for about 13 Yuan (£1.30) each,’ explains Ruan Dehe, a fruit merchant from Vietnam. ‘At the beginning, I never thought that they would be so popular in the market. I just stocked several cases of baby pears. Later I almost sold a tonne of these fruits.’

(Picture: Alibaba)

They can also be purchased online (£3.50 for 10 lucky pears) from Chinese shopping sites such as Alibaba.